Wheatstone's bridge

Bridge Bridge (br[i^]j), n. [OE. brig, brigge, brug, brugge, AS. brycg, bricg; akin to Fries. bregge, D. brug, OHG. brucca, G. br["u]cke, Icel. bryggja pier, bridge, Sw. brygga, Dan. brygge, and prob. Icel. br[=u] bridge, Sw. & Dan. bro bridge, pavement, and possibly to E. brow.] 1. A structure, usually of wood, stone, brick, or iron, erected over a river or other water course, or over a chasm, railroad, etc., to make a passageway from one bank to the other. [1913 Webster]

2. Anything supported at the ends, which serves to keep some other thing from resting upon the object spanned, as in engraving, watchmaking, etc., or which forms a platform or staging over which something passes or is conveyed. [1913 Webster]

3. (Mus.) The small arch or bar at right angles to the strings of a violin, guitar, etc., serving of raise them and transmit their vibrations to the body of the instrument. [1913 Webster]

4. (Elec.) A device to measure the resistance of a wire or other conductor forming part of an electric circuit. [1913 Webster]

5. A low wall or vertical partition in the fire chamber of a furnace, for deflecting flame, etc.; -- usually called a {bridge wall}. [1913 Webster]

{Aqueduct bridge}. See {Aqueduct}.

{Asses' bridge}, {Bascule bridge}, {Bateau bridge}. See under {Ass}, {Bascule}, {Bateau}.

{Bridge of a steamer} (Naut.), a narrow platform across the deck, above the rail, for the convenience of the officer in charge of the ship; in paddlewheel vessels it connects the paddle boxes.

{Bridge of the nose}, the upper, bony part of the nose.

{Cantalever bridge}. See under {Cantalever}.

{Draw bridge}. See {Drawbridge}.

{Flying bridge}, a temporary bridge suspended or floating, as for the passage of armies; also, a floating structure connected by a cable with an anchor or pier up stream, and made to pass from bank to bank by the action of the current or other means.

{Girder bridge} or {Truss bridge}, a bridge formed by girders, or by trusses resting upon abutments or piers.

{Lattice bridge}, a bridge formed by lattice girders.

{Pontoon bridge}, {Ponton bridge}. See under {Pontoon}.

{Skew bridge}, a bridge built obliquely from bank to bank, as sometimes required in railway engineering.

{Suspension bridge}. See under {Suspension}.

{Trestle bridge}, a bridge formed of a series of short, simple girders resting on trestles.

{Tubular bridge}, a bridge in the form of a hollow trunk or rectangular tube, with cellular walls made of iron plates riveted together, as the Britannia bridge over the Menai Strait, and the Victoria bridge at Montreal.

{Wheatstone's bridge} (Elec.), a device for the measurement of resistances, so called because the balance between the resistances to be measured is indicated by the absence of a current in a certain wire forming a bridge or connection between two points of the apparatus; -- invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone. [1913 Webster]